The Last Time
by nightlyreverie
Summary: They couldn't be in a band forever, nor could they travel the world, knowing that each may have their own dream or destiny besides music. The boys are now twenty-one, their names already well known in this world. Their fame still strong as ever, but their friendship could be at risk. The more famous they get, will their friendship break?


_"They are adored by millions across the world, each wanting to catch a simple glimpse from one of these boys. Big Time Rush began at the bottom, but they didn't stay there for long. Their hard work, dedication and appreciation of their fans have helped them climb the ladder in Hollywood. Their fame is escalating, showing no sign of it ever declining. Recently, news had risen stating their new album will be released within two months. An official date has not been given out to the public, although they have hinted towards a summer tour, then possibly a world tour depending on how well the summer goes."_

"So, do you think a world tour will happen?" asked a blond boy, leaning back into his chair. His green eyes were upon a large man sitting at the head of the table, his attention focusing on the report that was being given on the large screen television. There were six people in the room, all crowding the table, listening to the internet report that was vastly popular to the public. "I read tweets every day about the fans asking for one." The blond added, as he scratched the nape of his neck. He glanced at his friends, whom glanced in his direction. "We always go to the same places for our tour. The least we can do is see the fans worldwide."

The large man, known as Gustavo, shifted in his seat. His eyes were hidden by glasses that were tinted a dark colour, hiding his curious stare. His gaze soon moved from the blond to his assistant, Kelly, who was sitting by his side. He said nothing, not even a mumble. His hands were curled in a fist, which was fortunate, because if they weren't, he would have been fiddling with his pen. Gustavo's lips pressed firmly together, contemplating the entire situation.

Kendall shook his head. "C'mon, Gustavo. We're not kids any more. Just tell us the truth and don't sugar coat it." His hand rested on his neck, his green eyes remaining focused on their manager.

Big Time Rush had been in the music scene for five years; they were kids when they were first formed and moved to LA to begin their career. The boy band was made up of four boys, each having their own hopes and dreams for the future: Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia, Logan Mitchell, and James Diamond; they were all from Minnesota, their home town. It was a chance of a lifetime for them to sign a contract with the famous producer Gustavo Rocque. Originally, the dream of becoming famous belonged to James Diamond. The boys had auditioned for the contract in Minnesota, although a scene had occurred and James' feelings was hurt in the process. Kendall had stuck up for James, then joined his friends, although they all had gotten into trouble, but that hadn't lasted for long. If if hadn't been for Kendall, Gustavo wouldn't have thought of signing the blond to the music label. Kendall did not want to accept the offer without his friends, since it wasn't his dream to begin with. He didn't want James to be left out of the picture – his talent was far too good to be left in the dark. Kendall managed to change Gustavo's mind about the contract by persuading the producer to sign all four boys and forming a boy band. It was the first step into the music world, a beginning of their rise to stardom.

A lot had happened since they were sixteen. They met celebrities, went to cities they could only imagine traveling to back in Minnesota, met their fans, and earned a large sum of money they never thought would ever happen. Now, they're twenty-one years old and living the life of a celebrity. When they first started, they lived in the famous Palmwoods where they made themselves at home. It was a place that held all of their memories from the humorous moments to their sad points. Yet, they couldn't remain in that apartment forever. As they grew older, it was more dangerous for them to walk out of 2J. Paparazzi found ways to get indoors to snap photos to capture personal and embarrassing footage of the boys. Even fans had made their way into the hotel to locate the boys. Once they did, they were usually swarmed and their friends were usually shoved aside, making the boys feel terrible. They had to move out, otherwise something worse could have happened. At nineteen, they packed their bags and moved closer to Hollywood. They found a large mansion to claim for themselves, but it could not replace The Palmwoods. Kendall's mother and sister, Katie, had moved back to Minnesota, since the boys were of age now. His mother wanted Katie to return to the simple life. It was too much to handle for a girl her age and it wasn't doing any good for her to be exposed to so much drama, and their mother feared she may develop insecurities if they remained in LA. The boys had to adjust without her guidance, yet they keep in touch with both by video conferencing on their days off and listening to each tell them about their day. Without them in their household, the boys often find it too quiet. There were days they even missed hearing their friends causing noise outside of their apartment, and hearing their loud music. Fortunately, they still meet their friends by going for coffee as much as possible, or inviting them over when they weren't busy with their own schedules.

"Well," Gustavo began, breaking the intense silence in the room, "I want to see how well you guys do on this summer tour. Don't screw up. Don't release too many hints about the new album's name. A lot of people are wanting to hear what it's about. Fuck it up and you dogs will literally be in the pound." The boys were silent, knowing that behind Gustavo's tinted glasses was a glare. If they argued, they may hear a lecture that could last for a couple of hours. "We worked hard on this, don't let it go down the drain. Griffin wants this album to skyrocket and we're gaining more publicity by not saying anything about it. People are getting anxious. Let it play for awhile longer."

Carlos, sitting at the end of the table, sighed. He was known to tweet about their music, especially about major news such as the new album. In the past, he would give the fans a hint of the album name, along with a photo, though none had the title, but it was still a huge hint that the fans were able to decipher it. The others had glanced at Carlos making him feel anxious. He placed his hand on his cheek, his eyes moving along the table and hoping the attention would move away from him.

"I'm serious." Gustavo said, sternly. "Stay focused on the main goal and stay out of the paparazzi's eye. We don't want any bad press on our hands, because that would take more time and effort to get that cleared up - time that we can't waste on crap like this. If you can do that, and make the tour a success, we will go on a world tour."

The discussion left the boys a swarm of thoughts, each wanting to utter what they were thinking, but none of them even made a sound, not even a whisper. Gustavo had left with Kelly to go over their tour dates with Griffin over a phone conference in another room, leaving the boys to remain sitting around the table. Logan had stood up from the chair, whom was sitting by Gustavo and was slightly nervous from the tone of the producer's voice. He had walked toward the large window, his eyes looking out and taking in the beautiful scenery. It was a nice Thursday afternoon – the sky was blue as ever, the buildings tall and spread out along the streets, the grass along the property freshly cut and green, appearing inviting to be laid upon. There were people walking along the street, dressed as if they were in a movie. According to Logan, it seemed that everyone in LA was playing a part, even if they deny it. It was the city for the famous; say the wrong thing, then people may dislike you for it.

"_I'm serious_," James mocked Gustavo's voice, his voice higher than usual. He rolled his eyes, his arms resting on the table. "What does he think we'll do? Fuck it up to the point we can't do anything?" He asked, hoping someone at the table had an answer. "Carlos doesn't even do anything harmful. A few tweets, then he deletes it. He creates buzz about it. Without us saying anything about the album except for the ol', '_Hey guys, new album soon_!' with the smiley face at the end. That's just..."

"Annoying." Carlos finished for James, thankful that someone had stood up for him. He didn't mean to hint so much in the past. He cared for the fans and thought they deserved something rather than the label releasing nothing but garbage for them. "They will know what's up and start asking why we're not saying anything. And you know how we'll respond? By not talking about it and pretending we never saw their tweets, but we do. We always do."

Kendall licked his lower lip. He pushed his chair back, moving the piece of paper that was before him in the process. He had been taking notes earlier about their plans for tour, but he stopped when Gustavo put on the internet report that was published an hour ago. "I know that. There's nothing we can't do about it. You heard Gustavo. If we mess this up, who knows what will happen. Griffin won't like it and he can easily end our career, or put us on hiatus. Unfortunately, the guy has a lot of power and we have to please him. We have to be good, remember that."

"Be good." James snorted. "We're not dogs. Why is it that after all these years, we're still treated like one?"

"At least he doesn't yell that often," Logan finally spoke, as he turned away from the window. "We should just follow along and see where that goes. When the album name is out, we can talk about it as often as we can and they won't be able to hold us back. It's only for another month or so, if Griffin can approve the album name."

James couldn't argue with that fact, nor could he argue with Logan. The shorter raven-haired boy was always equipped with facts, ones that James found himself baffled to fire against.

Kendall stood up from the chair, then grabbed his piece of paper and folded it in half, soon shoving it in his back pocket of his jeans. "We should get out of here. The longer I sit here, the longer I get irritated. There's always something about sitting in a meeting room that pisses me off."

"Do you think it's because it reminds you of an office?" Carlos asked, as he rose from the chair. He was the first to follow Kendall out of the room. "I can never see myself sit in one." He frowned at the thought. It was hard to imagine himself wearing a suit and tie, sitting behind a computer and frantically typing up reports. In fact, Carlos wasn't even sure what he wanted for his dream. He was only certain about his music career – he found it entertaining and enjoyed every second of it.

"Yeah, I think that's it." Kendall commented, looking behind his shoulder, making sure that both Logan and James were following them.

Outside of the company building, the four boys approached the parking lot. James pulled his keys out, swinging it around his forefinger as he whistled. They all had taken James' car to get to the meeting, since none of them wanted to take their own car, knowing they were going to the same destination. "Should we go home, or have some fun?" James questioned, arching a brow.

"What kind of fun?" Logan looked at James, wondering if he should have even asked. He stood near the car, waiting for James to unlock it, so he could get in. His hand was pressed against the door, waiting for the answer.

"Oh, I don't know, Logan." James began, sarcastically. "I was thinking we should all go down town, get some ice cream, then talk about our feelings. Then, we'll put on matching shirts while cheesy TV music is playing in the background and we get ourselves into shenanigans."

"Don't have to be a dick about it." Logan retorted.

"Then don't ask questions you already know the answer for."

"I just asked a question. You always use sarcasm as a defense mechanism."

"And you whine like a little-"

Kendall sighed, cutting James off, his arms now crossed in front of his chest. "Guys, do we have to argue every time we go anywhere? Let's just go somewhere before we all argue over nothing." The comment had only irritated James more. Seeing the frustration on James' face, Kendall looked away, feeling guilty he had cut between the two and making it worse.

James snapped his eyes away from Logan, then unlocked the vehicle by pressing the button on the smart key. Without saying another word, they all had gotten in the car. The car ride was quiet, except for the radio blasting a pop song, the loud dance filling the silence that could have been used for conversation. None of them were able to speak about the small argument. Whenever they spat at one another like that, they would always fall in their own thoughts. Before, they were able to face their problem and talk it through. Now, they ignored it, hoping it would go away on its own. Even Kendall had become quiet about it. He use to help solve the argument; he would get in the middle of it, hearing both sides of the stories, then gave advice. It seemed to annoy him now having to listen to the bickering and expecting to solve it.

Back at their mansion, James was the first one to get out of the car. He slammed the door behind him and entered the house through the garage entrance. Logan made a slight _tsking_ noise, then followed after the taller boy. Carlos glanced at Kendall, wondering what they should do. After all these years, he still felt uncomfortable with arguments, no matter how minor. Silently, Kendall merely signaled for Carlos to go inside, where they would most likely to retreat to the game room. It wasn't their fight, nor did they want to be part of it. It was a stupid argument, one that will make the other boys laugh over after a few drinks. For now, Carlos and Kendall will avoid the entire situation, letting their friends cool off in their own areas of the home for as long as they needed. Kendall only hoped that James and Logan will remain apart until they calmed down. He didn't want to sit through an entire afternoon, listening to his friends shout and watching Carlos wish he was elsewhere.

The week was nearly ending and the tour had not even started. It would only get harder with more meetings, photoshoots, then interviews before they have to spend endless time on a tour bus. If they are already arguing, will it continue and get progressively worse?

* * *

**AN**: First chapter of the new story. Originally, the chapter was longer, but I thought I should cut it short and introduce the setting. I have wanted to write this story for awhile now and now I have the chance to. I will try to update as much as possible. That is, if school isn't taking up a majority of my time! Thank you for reading. I appreciate it. - Anne.


End file.
